Potato plants

You may recall that after Grant's birthday party a few weeks ago. .we cut up our seed potatos so they could rest a bit before we put them in the ground. Jeremy's grandma said she let hers sit at least a week before planting them in the ground. I have since read that even letting them sit overnight is adequate. The reason for doing so is to allow the cut flesh to dry slightly which helps prevent the potato from molding in the ground.

We sliced regular looking potatos into pieces that contained 2 eyes. .or the divet that starts to grow horns if you let the potatoes sit too long before you eat them (please tell me that I am not the only whose potatoes grow horns!).  We left them open in containers and put them in the basement storage room to rest. 

I wanted to plant them around St Patricks day. .as my grandma always did. .but the 17th was a barren planting time according to the Farmer's almanac (I'm a believer in that!). So Sunday the 20th was the first good planting day. .and the only one that I had available to get into the garden.  The above photo shows the crusty potatoes and their little eyes starting to sprout.

This year we are trying a no-till gardening method. I have seen a number of articles over the last year that stresses the importance of the underground microbes, bacteria, and other life forms (earthworms, etc) that are exposed to sunlight, heat, and air every time you till.  Seems that this underground structure has to start over each time you disturb it.  I decided to see how it works.  The other plus is that, since much of my newspaper/straw mulching will continue to supress weeds. .much of our work is already done. .with the exception of throwing some new straw on top to reinforce. Hee Haw!!

So, after church and lunch. .with Camille resting peacefully in bed. .we trucked out to the garden. The big boys hoed some rows through the mulch where the onion rows of last season had been. .D confiscated my camera and took pictures. .LOTS of pictures. .and several of himself as he made shadows on the ground. .8 year olds!!

We planted 3 15-20 foot rows of the variety Red Pontiac. .

3 15-20 foot rows of the variety Red Norland. .

and a couple rows of Yukon Gold. .

in that order from north to south (for my own memory. .since I don't use row markers. .found out a long time ago that they just get pulled up and used as weapons)

We spaced them in the row about 1 1/2-2 feet apart in rows 2 feet apart with their little eyes pointing skyward. Covered them up with dirt and straw (I also learned in my research that they will grow well just using straw and no soil). Now we wait for them to grow plants within the next 2-3 weeks.  After the plants get about 6 inches tall, we will mound more dirt around the base of the plant. .creating more space for the potatoes to form.  This is our first try with potatoes. .so we are excited about growing something new!! Grant and I also enjoyed trying to map out our other summer crops in our garden space.  Grant seems to be a child of my own heart. .he kept saying that the spot just needed to be a little bigger so we could grow more. .if any of you have seen my veggie garden space. .it is HUGE!! The first thing that boy will learn is space management!! It will be fun to have a gardening partner this year!!

While he cleaned up old tomato and pepper plants, I planted some grasses around the new sidewalk, as well as some cannas and gladiola bulbs. .also both new specimen around these gardens!! And my gardening highlight of the day??? I found my RHUBARB plants!! A gentleman in town had bought 3 rhubarb plants for me last year. It's a bit of a joke. .as many years ago at our church soup supper I fixed a rhubarb pie with some rhubarb that I had in my freezer from Grandma Pat.  Everyone raved over it, since very few people make rhubarb pie. .and many people grew up eating it!! The next year I didn't fix that type of pie and he was SORELY disappointed.  Since I am a first born pleaser-personalitied person. .I have been fixing rhubarb pie every year since then!! I was so tickled that he bought me some plants to make sure that I always had a supply!! It appeared to be dead by August. .and I wasn't sure why.  But as I was checking my Virginia creeper vine that I stuck near one of the rhubarb holes last fall. .I was SUPER EXCITED to find rhubarb leaves next to the creeper. .and lo and behold. .rhubarb leaves coming from the other two "dead" plants!! What a great surprise!!  Welcome spring!! Have a great week!

The Drag-sta

Now, any of you that are regular readers. .or those that know our family. .know that Jeremy is just short of obsessed with drag racing (likened to me being JUST short of obsessed with my gardens).  Last summer, his '69 nova drag car developed a "shake", explained to me as a phenomenon that would require major overhauling of the nova. .or getting a new one.  Hmmm. .It took a couple of weeks of fit-pitching about the cost of non-essential novelties (NOT likened to plants and trees and mulch and hardscaping. .those are ESSENTIAL for my good humor :-) from yours truly before he remarked that he would just build something from scratch. .a cheaper way to go. HAHAHA! And with that statement and one from me sounding a little like this. .

"Fine. . .just build one from scratch then."

And he was off. .little did I know. .

just what that entailed!

He started with some old pieces of a vehicle and some boxes of stuff. .

And you may recall the trip to OK that we made last fall. .the one that also included buying my pond parts. .(a bribe!) we picked up a racing motor (literally in BOXES) for 1/4 of the price from a guy who bought the stuff 10-15 years ago and never put it together.

Since then. .

every single weekend has been spent tinkering with this critter!

He has spent countless hours caressing her body. .lovingly sanding off all the blemishes and signs of age. .focused on every single detail of her appearance.

He tried out several different outfits of paint (on a piece of metal) before deciding on something very shiny and shimmery.

And of late, he has been spending every evening working on his NEW girl. .stopping  from work only long enough to eat supper and make sure that we (the family) were still alive and functional.

The children don't even remember his name! And just as soon as I was seriously considering setting up a cot for him in his shop. .he announced that he was finished!!

Unfortunately, it stopped running late Thursday evening. .the plan was to head for the first race of the season Friday!

These two motor head buddies showed up mid afternoon on Friday to work on the truck while Jeremy finished up with some shop work (his REAL job!) They drove an hour out of their way to get here!

Those crazy guys missed their own racing Friday evening to lend a hand. .and got it running again. .

It had alcohol poisoning. . .REALLY! I thought that only happened to people!!

But, by the time the work was done. .it was too late to head for Great Bend. .and the guys called Saturday and reported that the race had been cancelled due to rain. So, while he tinkered with it a little more this weekend. . .He did spend some time with yours truly and our children, helping with some landscaping and bird house hanging! 

Racing season started this weekend. .but then so did gardening season!

It's a good thing he is so cute. .and handy. .

OR ELSE. . .

Here Fishy, Fishy

We are all enjoying the beautiful spring weather here! 

Any of you that have ever been around children for a period of time. .

will be aware that they often do the unexpected.

You may be able to imagine my amazement as I looked out my kitchen window

 yesterday afternoon to see

THIS!!!. . .

Two miniature partners of mischievousness. .

. .committing the crime of ALL crimes!!

They were quick to point out to me that there was no bait OR hooks on the end of their lines. .

. .this little fisher girl stayed busy for at least 30 minutes casting her princess pole with the bobber into the pond. I KNEW that I might have problems keeping the kids out of the water. .

I just think I might have under-estimated it. . .

a TAD!!

Blessings to all for a wonderful weekend!

Hello!

Wow!!

My life is about to eat me alive!

I've neglected my blog this week. .and the sad thing is. . that I really didn't even care! I enjoy writing on my blog. .and really enjoy hearing from those of you that read my blabbering. .so the mere fact that I was so dis-interested was concerning to me!! Thought I might do a short update. .and then show you some peaks around the garden and greenhouse. 

I have been studying hard for a trauma class that I needed and took last week. It entailed two VERY long houred days in Wichita Thursday and Friday. And a lot of reading before hand. I am pleased to say that I passed. .and am glad to get that behind me.  I much prefer the fun learning classes like the one I will travel to in April. .in Boston!! Then I will be all "classed-out" for a long while! 

the meyer lemon tree has been in full bloomin' glory the last month!!

The weekend was really busy too! Grant had his friends over for a late celebration of his birthday. We met our family Saturday night for pizza to celebrate an anniversary. And last night I got to have my neice and nephew overnight. We went to see Gnomeo and Juliet which ROCKED!! Absolutely hilarious!! Go watch it!!  Today, I spent the day with my sister-in-law unpacking and putting away her kitchen.  They have been living out of boxes for a looooooong time now. .so I know it will be extra nice for her to finally be getting settled in! The kids had a fabulous day playing together. .something that they have NEVER done. .Ever!! It's so great to have them home!!

The weather has been fairly pleasant! The sidewalks were poured last Thursday. .J and I started doing the dirt work yesterday. .with much more shoveling and some rock moving to go. .can't wait to get it done and get to planting in it!

My little lemon tree has been blooming its head off. .they are so pretty and smell so yummy!

Won't be long until it is time to move him outside for the winter!

I enjoyed a quick walk about this evening. I love those this time of year, because every day you can see something new!!  The surprise lilies that I got from my mom are all coming up.  Once you transplant them, it can take several years for them to actually do anything. I believe that most of the foliage came up last year, but no lilies. I think that I have already found a few more spots of foliage than I saw last year. .so that is encouraging!

These may well be my favorite spring bloomers. .hyacinths.  The smell is delicious. .I love to smell them as I walk up to the house, or open my kitchen windows.  Gardening is a multi-sensual event around these parts!!

The sedum tucked into the rock by Grant last summer has done well, and offers a welcoming brightness in our brown monochrome environment.

In the greenhouse, the coleus cuttings are all lined up waiting for planting time. .

and this Bolivian jew succulent that I nearly kicked off last year is making an incredible rally!

The geranium has been blooming all winter. .and finally looks to be growing too. .it started as one little stem cutting off the mother plant.  And just because it makes me feel better to tell you. .I flunked the basil cuttings. .they were a failure.  I also killed the piece of oregano and thyme that I potted!!

The butterfly weed have been transplanted. .and the tomato and peppers still need to go to bigger pots too! They have really grown just in the last few days!! I have simply not had time to get this task done. .but hopefully this week.

Here is the passion flower vine that I was able to root from my friends garden! I took four cuttings. .the second time. .and left 2 in the water and 2 in rooting hormone and dirt.  The water cuttings never rooted. .but they didn't die either. Finally a month ago or so I took them from the water and put them in soil.  They are both rooting well now! I can hardly wait to see how they do here this summer.

These yellow squash plants will soon go to bigger pots and into the greenhouse. I should have a jump start with those in my garden!

I took out my flower seeds Saturday to see what needs to happen over the next few weeks.  I think I will try to get a jump start on some of them under my grow lights.  I have been itchy to put plants in the ground. .and noticed at Lowes last weekend that they are getting shipments in now.  We are enjoying the nice weather to get outside. .and hope you all are experiencing some springtime yourselves!! Have a great week!

Grant Goes Teen!!

Wanting to know how I am suddenly the mother of TWO teens???

REALLY???

That's the truth!!

You may recall that Grant's birthday was the day of the garden show. .

which was initially very disappointing to him!

He got over it pretty fast!!

And he's been partying all weekend. .with friends to come and party next weekend too!

He was thrilled to get some Skull Candy headphones.  Seriously. .

These things look like the first headphones they ever created. .Kids these days have all these sleek little earbuds to use..and they are all going back to these huge suckers. .and lovin' 'em!

I don't generally allow the kids to have ANY thing with skull and cross bones on them (call me quirky). .but these phones only have a skull. .and no bones. .besides they sit on his "skull"--so I see where the name came from. (how's that for rationalizing things out :-)

We took the whole photography crew to eat at Ghengis Grill. .as his choice for supper that night.  We were the only ones who have eaten there. .but everyone else loved it just as much!! It is a Mongolian grill. .you essentially fix your own plate of food and they grill it for you. .YUMM!! It's on Rock Road next to the mall. .if you are in Wichita and haven't tried out yet. .better do it!

We were pretty excited to welcome home our ex-Houston family!! The cousins had a blast. .and it was a nice time for the adults too!! They are glad to be here. .but will be happier to have their stuff. .which won't come in until Wednesday.

As is the custom. .Grandma made the birthday cake.  Grant wanted a surprise flavor and decoration. .so it was her choice.  She fixed an orange cake. .and put a trashcan drum on the top. How creative is that!!

Cami was BEGGING to help Grant "blow up" his cake. .and she may have blown out a candle or two. .or maybe she just spit on our cake. .Whatever happened. .she went away happy and ate a huge piece with a chunk of ice cream too!  Seems that all my kids are "growing" right now. .and I can hardly feed them enough!!  As grocery prices are rising. .I think it is time to get worried!!

Grandma always brings the other kids something to open too. .and Keith and Devin got these little guys that have "laser lights" on their bellies. .Dev was afflicting Grant with a beam.

We ended out our evening by cutting up seedling potatos after everyone left.  Grant saw some at the garden show last weekend. .and we decided to give it a try.  Now, I recall when my mother used to grow potatos. .but it is very distant and hazy in my memory. This is new to me, and I am excited for the challenge.  We sliced our potatoes (2 red varieties and a Yukon gold) and they are hanging out in the basement, waiting until the time is right.  Dev was snapping pictures. .so I will keep you posted on how it goes.

The projects are flying high at our house right now. .and energy levels are dropping! Jeremy is furiously trying to finish his new racing truck before the season starts. . .in two weeks. .He has been working night and day and it now LOOKS like a truck. .and got it's first coat of real paint yesterday! I'll have pictures of that soon. .The carpenter will be pouring the cement for the front walk soon (this week, hopefully). We have hit snags with the tub and shower being here. .so the bathroom project has not started yet. .but he assures me it will be done by the time I have family here for Tristan's 8th grade graduation in May.  I'm trying to make arrangements for some education coming up within this next month. I'm a little glad that the weather hasn't really made me itch to be outside yet!! There will need to be some dirt work done around the pond soon too! The greenhouse is doing well, and my pepper and tomato seedlings are looking great!! It seems like every time I leave Walmart, I have another packet of seed or another bag of roots to put in the ground. 

I wonder. .

Do they have help groups for gardening addicts???

Sign me up!!

Hi. .my name is Melanie and. . . . . . . .

In like a Lamb. . .

Well. .March is in. .my 2nd grader deemed it "in like a lamb" since it was so nice.  And we all hate that it means "out like a lion" to come. Blech!! As I am in the habit of doing. .I rang March in with a trip to the Wichita Garden show!! All three boys got to participate in the 4-H judging contest and classes.  The bigger boys were pretty independent in their photo taking this year.  And Dev just likes to hit the trigger. .so life was good.  I was able to enjoy the gardens with little stress.  The guys each got some adequate photos. .and even a few that might be fair material. .will just have to see them full size on the computer screen before knowing for sure.  This year's theme was "Gardens in the Movies."

The large gardens featured scenes from the movie Avatar. . (the fuzziness was created by the fog machine. .super cool atmosphere in there!)

. .Jurassic Park (right in front of the "wrecked" pickup was a cement cast of a huge dinosaur track filled with water from the "rain.") And that WAS a full size vehicle. .to give you some idea of how huge the dinosaur replica and the trees behind it are!

And my personal favorite. .the movie "Up." This house was "up" in the air. .and standing directly below it. .the floor was still a good several feet above my head (and I'm 5'10)!

This year the exhibitors had an abundance of these Avandale redbud trees! They are a multi-stemmed redbud that is more of a shrub.  About 4-5 years ago, a friend happened to be at the garden show on the last day, when they sell many of their plants, shrubs, and trees for 1/2 price.  She brought home one of these beauties for each of us.  That spring. .Tristan gave it a pruning (unbeknownst to me at the time). It is slowly growing taller. .and does provide a beautiful show when we need it most to welcome in the spring! 

I didn't take a lot of pictures at all. .less than 10. .but this simple little swing just invoked a feeling of peacefulness to me!! And I couldn't resist! 

Here's our judging crew!! They enjoyed the swimming late last night more than they enjoyed the judging. .but they DID admit that they had a good time and learned some things.  My guys and I crammed in some shopping too.  Tristan and I were able to sneak out for an hour yesterday afternoon to shop for his 8th grade graduation attire.  He bought his first tie. .Ooooooh. . .Awwww. .

And when we got home this evening, his first stop was youtube to find out how to tie the sucker!! True story! Grant celebrated his birthday amidst all the activities yesterday. .and there will be more to come on that. We are looking forward to having our Houston family here tomorrow for the party!! They made it to Kansas yesterday for their permanent move home! As I gaze ahead on my calendar. .I am overwhelmed by the number of things overtaking it in the coming weeks. Life will be crazy. .and I am struck with the realization that, as fast as time moves. .in about a week or two. .I'll be sitting here pondering the arrival of Christmas. .does anyone else's life seem to move that fast??? An incredible phenomenon for sure!!

Well. .I have worn out the short break I allowed myself from my trauma class studyin'. .Better get back after it! I'll be glad when that class is over next week!! Enjoy your weekend!

Bathroom Upgrade

Our home was built in 1912-13.

In the 1930's, the home was hit by a tornado and displaced. .in one piece. .off it's foundation.  It had 2 stories. .possibly 3.  The second story was damaged enough that is was completely removed, and the roof was slapped right back on. .dormer windows and all.

By the time we bought it, it had been neglected for YEARS, if not decades! But I could see so much potential for it, and the location was perfect for us!

We bought the home 13 years ago last Christmas-time and spent the next few months completely gutting. .and re-doing EVERYTHING as cheaply as possible.  We moved in 2 weeks before Grant was born. .and have been upgrading things slowly ever since!!

This was the original bathroom. .

The ONLY bathroom the home had!!

I wish I had taken more photos of it. .but this was the only one I had.  Gross, huh?? There was actually a mouse carcass in the bottom of the tub when we looked at it! ICK!! And I don't remember for sure, but I think that small piece of linoleum in front of the tub was actually duct taped to some ratty old carpet.

Next week will see this bathroom getting it's final makeover for a Loooooooong time!

So I thought that I would give you a little tour before the construction gets underway.

I start with the trip to the bathroom. .because this entails a change as well.

Note the bookshelf to the left.  Now, note the jog in the wall as you enter the hardwood area in the hall.  That, my friends, is a brick chimney. .that goes to no-where.  We do have a heater duct that runs up it and into the boys' room, but my jewel of a carpenter assures me that we can fix that.  So. .the first thing to go is the chimney. .which will allow me enough room to get my wheelchair through the opening and turn to get into the bathroom when I am old!!

Here's a different view of the chimney. It makes a lot of wasted space for sure. By removing it, I will get another foot of space in both the hallway and the bathroom!! The new door will be put on an angle in this expanded hallway.  And every other door in that hallway is on an angle. .so it will match :-)

As you walk into the bathroom, you'll see the cheapest pre-made vanity that one could find. .with no door pulls.  This area will house the toilet and the existing shower will become a 32 inch jacuzzi air bath.

The bathroom doesn't seem this long when you are in it. .but I laughed when I saw the pictures. .cause it looks like you'd be tired before you got to the back of it!!  The far end used to house the washer and dryer. .which I totally hated. .because my bathroom was NEVER clean!!  EVER!

And a look back towards the door. There will be a vanity and some built in storage cabinets in the area where the toilet is now.  That short wall next to the toilet will also be moved slightly to make a more efficient use of space.

You'll note that the water hookups are still here for the washer and dryer.  In this spot will soon be a large shower. . .provided we can find one close to what we are looking for. .nothing fancy. .just one with some storage space. .why they would NOT create more showers that have places for toiletries than no-shelved specimens is beyond me!! But it's a true story.  That has so far been the hold up!!

I can't wait to have some storage space for my extra toilet paper, clothes hamper and my sweaty workout clothes!!

I'm hoping to reuse this cool old medicine cabinet that I found at the flea market years ago. .

It contains my collection of old medicine bottles, boxes, and tins.  Maybe they are only something that intrigues people in the medical field. .but I love 'em!!

In addition, I am hoping that our little project we started 2 weeks ago (which hit a snag) will be done soon! We are making a shadow box to hold some antique bathroom items.  The lid, you may recall, is the old cabinet window picked from my ancestry. 

I can hardly wait for them to get started. .but have plans to be at a trauma class next week for a few days. .so I also hope things go smoothly without too many decisions that I need to make while I am gone.  This fear is stemmed from an incident occurring during the remodel of the kitchen 3 years ago.  I found myself in Wichita with the baby in the hospital.  These jokers called me and told me that they thought I had gotten the wrong paint color because it was black.  I got hot and sweaty. .and then my stomach started to hurt.  They led me astray for quite awhile. .and I got home still thinking that the paint color would be all wrong! They were kidding me. .but the damage was already done       ;-)  (BTW. .it was exactly the color I chose and, to this day, still looks wonderful!)  Crazy guys!

If they didn't do such good work . .I would have hired someone much less funny! 

Check back soon for pictures of the demo and finished project!